HISTORIC PRESERVATION SURVEY MASTER PLAN Final Report
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HISTORIC PRESERVATION SURVEY MASTER PLAN Final Report 4 APRIL 2019 TOWN OF ARLINGTON HISTORIC PRESERVATION SURVEY MASTER PLAN FINAL REPORT Historic & Cultural Resources Working Group Peter Howard (Finance Committee) Ann LeRoyer (Master Plan Implementation Committee) Steve Makowka (Chairman, Historic Districts Commission) JoAnn Robinson (Chairman, Historical Commission) Diane Schaefer (Historical Commission) Department of Planning & Community Development Kelly Lynema, Senior Planner and Project Coordinator Allison Carter, Economic Development Coordinator Erin Zwirko, Assistant Director Jennifer Raitt, Director Geographic Information System (GIS) Adam Kurowski, Director of GIS/Systems Analyst Arlington Historical Society Richard Duffy Consultant Team Wendy Frontiero and Kathleen Kelly Broomer, Architectural Historians and Preservation Consultants The Historic Preservation Survey Master Plan, and copies of the survey documentation (inventory forms, base maps, and final reports) produced according to the recommendations of this plan, will be available for public inspection and archived in the office of the Department of Planning and Community Development, Town Hall Annex, 730 Massachusetts Avenue, with copies at Robbins Library, 700 Massachusetts Avenue, and the Whittemore-Robbins House, 670R Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Town Overview & Identification Of Neighborhood Survey Units .................................................... 5 Existing Inventory Documentation ...................................................................................................... 10 Survey Activity to Date ........................................................................................................................... 11 Geographic Distribution of Inventoried Resources ............................................................ 13 Resource Types and Uses Represented in Inventory ........................................................ 14 Representation of Historic Periods & Themes in Inventory ........................................... 15 Quality of Inventory Documentation ..................................................................................... 16 Existing National Register & Local Historic District Designations ............................................... 18 Historic Themes & Periods Of Development In Arlington .............................................................. 22 Overviews Of Neighborhood Survey Units ......................................................................................... 25 Center Survey Unit .................................................................................................................... 25 East Survey Unit ......................................................................................................................... 29 West Survey Unit ....................................................................................................................... 33 North Survey Unit ...................................................................................................................... 38 Threats to Historic Resources .............................................................................................................. 42 Analysis of Survey Methodologies ....................................................................................................... 44 Survey Priorities, Selection Criteria, & Coverage Goals .................................................................. 47 Areas & Properties Recommended for Survey ................................................................................. 50 Townwide (Thematic) ............................................................................................................................. 50 Center Survey Unit .................................................................................................................... 56 East Survey Unit ......................................................................................................................... 59 West Survey Unit ....................................................................................................................... 62 North Survey Unit ...................................................................................................................... 65 Recommendations for Corrections ..................................................................................................... 67 State & Local Coordination ................................................................................................................... 70 Survey Action Plan with Cost Estimates ........................................................................................... 72 Annotated Bibliography for Survey Research ................................................................................... 75 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................ 84 1 MACRIS Street Index for Arlington (Excerpt) .................................................................. 84 2 Properties Added to MHC Inventory in 2017-2018 Survey Project ............................ 86 3 Sample Scope of Work for Town-Funded Survey Projects ........................................ 91 4 Historic Properties Inventory Forms (MHC Know-How #6) ........................................ 98 5 Base Map with Areas and Properties Recommended for Survey ............................. 101 Arlington: Historic Preservation Survey Master Plan Final Report ABSTRACT The Town of Arlington, by and through the Department of Planning and Community Development, utilized Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to conduct an assessment known as the Historic Preservation Survey Master Plan. The three-phase project provides the town with a plan for updating and expanding its communitywide comprehensive historic resource inventory, which will support preservation advocacy efforts, future work toward achieving potential historic designations for select significant areas and individual properties, and preservation education activities. Historic and cultural resource inventories in Massachusetts – the inventory forms produced and the survey methodology used to create them – must conform to the requirements of the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC). As the State Historic Preservation Office, the MHC administers the historic preservation planning program in the Commonwealth, in accordance with principles and practice established by the National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior. Per the Scope of Work developed by the MHC for this project, Arlington’s Survey Master Plan provides recommendations for improving the town’s representation in the Inventory of Historic and Archaeological Assets of the Commonwealth, which is maintained by the MHC with a duplicate set of inventory forms kept on file in Arlington. During this project, the consultants supplied the Historic and Cultural Resources Working Group of the Master Plan Implementation Committee with information on the goals and products of communitywide comprehensive surveys in Massachusetts. The consultants reviewed survey activity in Arlington to date, and assessed how well the existing Arlington inventory meets current MHC expectations. The town was divided geographically into four neighborhood survey units to guide the selection of areas and individual resources for future documentation, and to facilitate the prioritization of survey recommendations. Brief historic contexts, or frameworks, were developed for each survey area so the relative importance of different types of historic resources present in Arlington could be better understood. The consultants compiled lists of specific areas and individual properties to be surveyed and cost estimates, accompanied by recommendations for correcting inconsistencies between state and town records. This project provides the Town of Arlington with information needed to implement the survey update on a multi-phase basis, as local and matching state funding permits. 1 Arlington: Historic Preservation Survey Master Plan Final Report INTRODUCTION Historic resources are major character-defining features of Arlington’s cultural landscape and heritage. They are inextricably linked with the community’s image and quality of life, and provide tangible evidence of growth and change in Arlington over nearly four centuries. Preservation of Arlington’s historic resources is in the public interest. Preservation planning helps cities and towns articulate their community character, so they can protect that character while managing growth and change. “Saving it all” is not the goal. The preservation planning process is designed to encourage objective analysis of the town’s historic resources, so informed decisions may then be made about which resources are most important to the community and merit preservation. As established by the National Park Service, and administered in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC), preservation planning involves three steps: identification, evaluation, and protection. Communities